Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Summary

Dahl has said that his only purpose in writing books for children is to entertain and foster a love of reading. The book's slap-stick humor, fantastic setting, and exaggerated characters appeal to the tastes of young readers. It has an original and fast-paced plot about a poor boy who, along with four other children, wins an opportunity to tour a wondrous and mysterious chocolate factory that has been sealed off from the public for ten years.

The book is especially effective when read aloud and is frequently used by teachers who read to their classes. This is partially due to Dahl's playful use of language, featuring rhymes, puns, and hyperbole.

Roald Dahl Biographies (4)

A writer of both children's fiction and short stories for adults, Roald Dahl (1916-1990) is best known as the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the story of a poor boy who because of his ho...
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Roald Dahl was flying over the African desert for the Royal Air Force during World War II when he was forced to make an emergency landing. He wrote in his first short story, "A Piece of Cake," "I reme...
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Roald Dahl began his career as a short-story writer after suffering through the horrors of severe canings and other punishments in oppressive British schools during the 1920s and 1930s and after endur...
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Roald Dahl was one of the most successful writers of children's books ever, both in terms of copies sold and money made. Ten months before his death, the five top-selling children's books in Britain w...
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Essays & Analysis (1)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
This once beautiful dream of a novel has been horrifically realised in typical Tim Burton fashion of ominous, grey skies and grim, dour symbolism. Charlie and the Ch...
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